Wednesday 1stMay 2013
Venue: Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Nonthaburi.(Room:Nontaburi 1)
Ethical Capital and youth in ASEAN
Professor Vicha Mahakun
Commissioner, NACC
Ethical capital is emerging as an important parameter in all ASEAN countries as a measure of the preparedness of a country to combat corruption.
Several major ASEAN members of SEAPAC cooperate under a MOU on preventing and combating corruption. SEAPAC members work jointly on transnational corruption cases.
The term ‘ethics’ is merely another word for ‘righteousness’. Ethics represent a vital component of human capital development, to build sustainable communities and states. Personal integrity is a key requirement that complements professional knowledge. Moreover, prudence is the exercise of good judgment, wisdom, moderation and fairness in using knowledge to benefit people.
Ethics presupposes the existence of morality, and is based on several principles (Integrity, Objectivity, Professional Competence, Confidentiality, Professional Behaviour).
Ensuring ethical conduct in our personal and professional lives will help us restore our mental and emotional poise, leaving us calm and peaceful. The best way to protect youth and society is to instill ethical conduct in all aspects of their lives.
Kh Vicha introduced the key objectives of this Youth Camp:
1. To open minds and release from the stresses and tensions of daily life; and foster a sense of readiness, sacrifice and power to fight corruption at the workplace, school, university or company.
2. To build an understanding among young people on how to profit from ethics in daily life.
He concluded with two inspirational quotes:
To grow the tree, we must prepare the land.
To eat, we must prepare the meal.
To develop, we must prepare the human being.
But we must develop ourselves before the others.
“Strong people stand up for themselves, but the strongest stand up for others”.